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ISLAMABAD, Oct 29: Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has said he will go to any extent to secure release of the victims of enforced disappearance. Hearing the case of missing persons, the Chief Justice admonished the authorities concerned for not speeding up the process of producing and releasing the missing persons.

“Are the authorities trying to legalise abductions by releasing these people one after another?” he asked.

He regretted that secret agencies, despite being the abductors, were producing victims through police departments.

The court directed government lawyers to produce correct number of the victims of enforced disappearance. It also asked the authorities to either release the missing persons or regularise the cases.

The court said that it was exercising restraint and there was ample evidence that secret agencies were involved in picking up the missing persons. It directed government lawyers to consult aggrieved parties and consolidate the list of the missing persons.

The court warned the authorities of stern action if the missing persons were not released by the next hearing on Nov 1.

The government lawyers maintained that 186 people had so far been traced and released.